Critique my Pike Flies

[Royce]

I've gotten started tying up some pike flies for my trip to northern Minnesota this summer. Most I've done thus far are "variations on a theme". Different color combinations and slight changes but all along a similar line.

So, what do any of you think? Am I on a right track? Any chance some of these might I entice a Northern Pike? Any comments and suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

Royce

PS- Sorry for the poor quality photo. Didn't think in necessary to take a high quality, close-up photo of each fly since I'm just wanting your general impression.

[hap]

Catching the pike will not be the problem if there are plenty of pike around... Catching multiples on the same fly might be. I would suggest rabbit strips to get the motion as it will last longer against pike teeth. Marabou is wonderful stuff for catching pike, but it does not last well.

Otherwise, you are definitely on the right track.

Long shank hooks will make it easier to unhook them and wide gapes will make it easier to hook them in the first place. Don't be afraid to tie them on jig hooks as they produce a lot of up and down motion when strip-retrieved.

[sagefisher]

Royce,

You could send me some and I would give them a try

They look great but I would listen to what Art has to say to increase the longevity of the fly. But then, I am always happy even if a fly only catches one fish, I figure it did it's job. More fish would be better, but that's fishing.

Hope you have a great time in northern Minnesota. I hear they have a couple fish up there.

Larry ---sagefisher---

[melk]

I'll bite!
Mike

[gqualls]

Very hard for me to offer critique without first trying flies. That being said, Hap has offered some sound advice; rabbit strip will last much longer than marabou. I have 16 boundary waters trips behind me and while that certainly does not make me an expert I can tell you Northern Pike can be very hard on soft flies. They look great and I have no doubt you will catch some fish on them. Looking forward to a fishing report this summer.

[Tig]

Those will work great! You could save on some of the silver in the bottom right but great idea for a pattern and color combination. I find bucktail works good. Rabbit strips are better. The only down side of rabbit is that it gets heavy with water. Just a little more work casting. I used to make a rabbit strip dahlberg style fly that stayed right (on) near the surface. It was wild watching the takes.

[hap]

Those will work great! You could save on some of the silver in the bottom right but great idea for a pattern and color combination. I find bucktail works good. Rabbit strips are better. The only down side of rabbit is that it gets heavy with water. Just a little more work casting. I used to make a rabbit strip dahlberg style fly that stayed right (on) near the surface. It was wild watching the takes.

You raise a very good point about the rabbit strips getting waterlogged and hard to cast... I used to judge rabbit strips by the quantity of hair on them and paid no attention to the thickness of the hide. Now I will only buy rabbit with very thin leather and sparse hair. It makes a huge difference and the profile created by sparser hair is just like the densely furred versions.

Pike flies tied full is the exception to the "Tie 'em sparse" rule... but just because it will take longer for the pike to tear all the stuff off!